Contentions

As I noted rather incredulously a couple of weeks ago, the United Nations is adamant that Hezbollah is abiding by UN Resolution 1701. So adamant, in fact, that the joke of a soldier who heads UNIFIL — a foppish Italian general named Claudio Graziano — claims that within UNIFIL’s jurisdiction Hezbollah is unarmed and there is no weapons smuggling.

A Lebanese army helicopter that was hit by gunfire in south Lebanon was targeted by Hezbollah fighters who thought the aircraft was Israeli, the Lebanese newspaper as-Safir reported on Friday. The pilot of the aircraft was killed in the shooting on Thursday over Iqlim al-Touffah district. The area is controlled by the powerful political and military group Hezbollah. As-Safir reported the aircraft had landed and taken off again in a training drill. Hezbollah gunmen in the area “thought that there was an Israeli landing attempt (under way) and opened fire in the direction of the helicopter, hitting it,” it said.

Where is the Iqlim al-Touffah district? It is in UNIFIL’s area of operations — the place where the United Nations says Hezbollah doesn’t have any weapons.